DOD to Designate SMIC, Other Chinese Companies as Having Ties to Military, Report Says

The Defense Department plans to add several more Chinese companies, including its top chipmaker, to a blacklist of firms with ties to the country’s military (see 2011230007), Reuters reported Nov. 29. The additions to the list, which have not yet been published, include Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), China Construction Technology Co. Ltd. and China International Engineering Consulting Corp., Reuters said. The companies will likely fall under President Donald Trump’s November executive order to ban Americans from investing in Chinese military companies (see 2011130026).

SMIC told Reuters that it continues to “engage constructively” with the U.S. government and said its products are for civilian use only. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Nov. 30 that China opposes U.S. sanctions and “hopes that the United States will provide a fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for the operation of Chinese enterprises,” according to an unofficial translation of a press conference transcript. A Defense Department spokesperson said the agency will continue to update its lists of Chinese military companies “as appropriate.”